What they want they can't have
by Jonathansgirl18
Summary: When Lisa's best friend gets kidnapped who does she go to for help? The police or someone else? Eventual LisaXJackson
1. Chapter 1

It had been a few months since that fateful day on the plane. Jackson had been charged with attempted murder of the first degree and would be spending 80 to life in Jail. As Lisa sat by herself in the bar, she remembered the final day of the trial. She had to stand as a witness.

"Miss Resiert, do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you god?" asked the young officer.

"Yes." Lisa sat down quietly. She tried her hardest to look at anything but those eyes that somehow still had a power over her. Even after all this time they had a hold on her, like nothing had ever before.

To avoid his icy blue stare she looked at the portly judge; he had soft and warm brown eyes, wispy grey hair, and a look of pity on his face. He must have seen her trying her hardest not to tremble. Her bottom lip was quivering and she was on the verge of tears. "Can you explain to us just exactly what happened on that plane?" he asked in a kind, caring voice.

Lisa took a deep breath and looked at her lap. _Don't look at him, don't look at him, don't look at him. _She tried to tell herself, like so many times before. She had even gone over how the trial was going to go. She was going to state what needed to be said and leave, not speaking to him not even looking at him.

If she did look at him, straight into those cold navy eyes, she was afraid of what she might see; hatred or… she couldn't bear to think of what else she might see. But she didn't need to think of it, she felt it. And she was worried that he felt it to.

Despite all of the planning in her head and all of the warnings she had given herself, she looked up. What met her eyes was a sight she had never hoped to see again. She saw it the fist time they met, in the lavatory of the plane when he asked her about the scar, and when he uttered those words that she had been replaying in her head for months, half hoping that they would come true, "When we get out of this, I may have to steal you." The sight was two bright, but unnaturally cold, sapphire eyes. They had a look in them, but it wasn't of hatred; it was of wanting. A look of wanting something so bad, but he couldn't have it; he could never have it. Even though what he wanted was right in front of him, staring at him with the same look.

It took a loud, "Miss Resiert," from the judge to pull her out of the ocean that was his eyes. She looked up at the judge and he said, "Can you please tell us what happened?" a little more firmly then last time. She looked at Jackson once more and relayed what happened on the plane.

While she was telling the story, she never looked away from Jackson. In her mind, she was telling this to Jackson; she was telling him how much he hurt her, and in a subtle way, how much she could have loved him.

A quick change of pace in the music coming from the deejay's speakers shook her out of her memory. She looked down at the drink she had been sipping on for the last half an hour, and pushed it away, even thought it was hardly a fourth empty. Lately, everything tasted like a sea breeze.

"Honey, you haven't even tasted your drink. Do need me to make you another one?" asked the female bartender. Lisa looked at her. The bartender's name tag said Paige, and she looked concerned. Lisa understood why.

Lisa hadn't been taking good care of herself since the trial. She had constant bags under her eyes from nights of tossing and turning, for every time she closed her eyes, _he_ was there, and her hair hadn't been falling the way she wanted it to. Even if she used half a bottle of mouse and hair spray plus a few expensive hair driers, it always came out looking crappy. She had lost fifteen pounds in a very small amount of time (she had stopped eating all together for a while, until her father knocked some sense into her) and all of her clothes looked too big for her. She looked back at Paige. "No thanks. I'm not in the mood for a drink. Just put that one on my tab."

"Nah," said Paige. "It's on the house."

"Thanks." Lisa turned around and looked at the dance floor. "You guys seem more packed then usual. Is it a bargain night or something?"

"Yeah, two for the price of one. The manger is thinking of making it permanent two for one night."

"Oh." Lisa didn't feel like eating anything, and the music was giving her a head ache. But she didn't want to leave. She didn't want to be alone tonight, so she just looked at the dance floor, whishing she could be like these people. The people out there didn't have a care in the world at the moment. All they wanted to do was have a good time and relax. Lisa remembered when she was like that, care free and just looking for a fun time. But that happy attitude came crashing down around her knees that day in the parking lot. And her entire self worth came down that day on the plane. _He seemed so decent, why did he have to have ulterior motives? But what I don't understand is that in the bathroom, he seemed to really care about my scar and who did it to me. He seemed to really truly care about me. Or was he just acting like that to gain my trust so I would change the Keefe's room? _

Lisa was knocked out of her thoughts by a loud. "HI!" coming from the seat next to her. She tuned around to see a tall girl with bright pink hair that came down to her shoulders. She was wearing a black halter top with tight, low cut, blue, blue jeans. "HI!" she said again.

"Hello?" Lisa wasn't sure what to say. She had never seen this girl before, and she would remember someone with bright pink hair.

"What's your name?" she asked Lisa.

"Lisa Resiert." _What on earth does this girl want?_

"I'm Natalie Clarke. I'm a bit spastic, but fun nonetheless." She stared off into space. Natalie was silent for about three point five seconds when out of the blue she said, "Let's dance." She grabbed Lisa's arm and pulled her on to the dance floor.

"Wait," Lisa started to protest.

"If you are always waiting, then nothing will ever get done and if nothing ever gets done, you will never have any fun!" And Natalie started to dance. Lisa had never been a good dancer in the first place so she just stood there, stunned that this girl had the self confidence to just go out on to the dance floor and… and… Lisa was trying to think of a word that would finish her sentence. This girl was having the fun that Lisa hadn't been able to enjoy since the day in the parking lot. "Come on! Just move your hips to the beat! It's not that hard, trust me!" Natalie shook her hips at a rapid rate. Lisa was still a bit skeptical. She couldn't remember the last time she danced.

"I'm not going to bite! It's fun! Just try it!" Natalie coxed Lisa. Finally Lisa thought, _What the hell, why not? _And started to dance.

It had been an hour or so when Lisa needed a break. With a smile on her face she motioned for Natalie to follow her.

"Whew! That is so much fun! I can't believe that it has been so long since I danced like that!" said Lisa as she sat down at the bar and ordered two bottles of water for Natalie and herself.

"See, I told you!" said Natalie. "Did you come here with anyone?"

"No, you?"

"Yeah, my friend, but she kinda left me; she had to go do her job here. Do you come here often?"

"Yes, almost every night. Just to clear my head, you know?" Natalie nodded so Lisa continued, "Do you come here often?"

Natalie laughed and said, "No, I'm under age to get in here. But my friend owns the bar, and tonight is my birthday, so she let me in as a present."

Lisa's eye's got wide, "How old are you?"

"16."

"You're kidding. You look so much older." Lisa couldn't believe she just got partying tips from a 16 year old.

"That is what everyone says."

"Where are your parents?" Lisa asked.

"Oh, I'm an orphan. The head of the orphanage runs this place and that was why I could get in." Natalie said this as if she were talking about some statistic. She said this with a 'matter of fact' tone. Like this was some random fact, not her own tragic past.

A stone of pity dropped in Lisa's heart. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," she said cheerfully. "They died and I was too young to remember them, so it doesn't hurt. Do you want to dance some more?"

"No thanks. Maybe later, but for now I just need to rest." Natalie smiled and nodded, her pink hair bobbing up and down, and went back on the dance floor.

Unbeknownst to Natalie or Lisa, there was a dark figure in that club that seemed to have an odd interest in Natalie.

Man or woman, no one could tell even if someone had seen it. It had a black trench coat on, black gloves encasing its hands, and a black hat pulled low over its head. It blended right in with the sea of people and strobe lights.

It followed Natalie, but always keeping a good 15 feet behind her. _After I slip her this,_ it thought, looking at a small pill in its hand. _Then she will be out cold for a good few hours. Then I will drag her to my car and finish what I started 16 years ago. _

While Natalie had her open bottle of water to one side, she was to busy flirting with a boy to notice the dark figure moving closer. As soon as it was close enough to her, it inconspicuously raised its hand and dropped the pill into the bottle of water; but in doing so, it bumped into her. "Walk much?" she spit angrily at the dark figure. It didn't even turn its head to acknowledge the testy remark. "What a weirdo," she said to herself, and she went back to talking to the blonde surfer.

15 minutes later, Natalie came back up to the bar to get more water. She had taken the last bottle with her, and she must have finished it, because Lisa didn't see it in her hands. Lisa asked, "You live at the orphanage?"

"Yep." She took a sip from the bottle. All of the sudden, Natalie collapsed. Lisa caught her before she hit the ground. But Natalie was out cold, nonetheless.

"Can you get me the manager?" Lisa asked the bartender.

"I would, but she left an hour ago."

Lisa looked down at Natalie and said, "Well, I guess you are going to be spending the night with me then." The orphanage was an hour from Lisa's house and it was already 2:30 in the morning. They had probably already closed up for the night and Lisa didn't feel like driving an hour and waking up the entire block to get them to open the doors. Natalie was going to be fine at Lisa's house.

* * *

So, this is my first Red Eye fic! Review to tell me if Lisa is in character. And you will eventually see Jackson, just not for a while. 

Love,

Celia


	2. Chapter 2

The dark figure watched as Lisa dragged Natalie to her car. It cursed under its breath. _Oh well, I can always get her next time. _And with a swish of its cloak, it was gone.

Lisa stumbled into her house fifteen minutes later, carrying a very asleep Natalie. She put the girl on the sofa and pulled a blanket over her.

Lisa stumbled into her bed room and didn't even bother taking her shoes off; she flopped on the bed and she had enough time to think one simple thought before falling into the deepest sleep she had been in since the plane: _What am I going to do with her in the morning?_

Lisa woke up the next morning and it sounded like every appliance was running in the kitchen. She stumbled out of bed, nearly falling over and staggered into the kitchen to find Natalie awake and making some kind of deformed breakfast.

"Oh, you're up! I was going to serve you breakfast in bed." She sounded slightly put out, but happy, nonetheless.

"What are you doing?" Lisa asked. Her headache had carried over from last night and grown in pain and size. The sun and Natalie's vibrant pink hair weren't doing much to help, either.

"Making you a pick me up breakfast." She got a glass down from an open cabinet and poured some green goop into it.

Lisa picked it up and tried to see if any light could penetrate the thick green drink, but it didn't. "What is this?"

"It is a headache fixer. I got a recipe from a friend at the orphanage and they said it is a really good low carb drink, but it works better for headaches and to make you perkier in the morning."

Natalie turned to the something she was cooking on the stove and Lisa set the glass down. "I really need to get you back to the orphanage. They will be worried about you."

"Nah, they'll be fine. Sometimes I will sneak out and visit a friend and they won't even notice I am gone. My door is always shut and locked so no one ever knows if I am in it or not. And most of the time I am in there watching TV or surfing the web and just won't answer my door because I am being lazy. And besides, the orphanage is closed for visitors on Sunday." She smiled to herself and went on to say, "Okay, so since I don't have a car, can you drive me to my tryouts?"

"For what?" Lisa ran a hand through her dirty hair. She needed a bath desperately.

"I am trying out for the Miami Women's Soccer team. I don't know if they will let me in because I am so young, but it's worth a shot."

"I guess I will have to." Lisa said, resigning to her fate.

"Thanks! It's at Sea Side Park. You know the one down town?" Natalie forked some kind of mutilated eggs, disfigured bacon, and burnt toast on to a plate and shoved it in front of Lisa's face. "I hope you like it! I made it myself!"

Lisa didn't want to hurt the girl's feelings so to get out of eating the breakfast from hell, she said, "What time do the tryouts start?"

"Twelve o'clock. Why?"

"It is 11:30; you probably need to get ready if we are going to make it on time."

"Oh god! Your right! Thank you so much for taking me in last night." She hugged Lisa and ran up stairs to take a bath.

"You can borrow some of my clothes for the tryouts. I don't think that they would take you seriously if you came in a halter top and jeans," Lisa yelled from the kitchen. She heard Natalie laugh as Lisa threw away the unpleasant breakfast.

"Miami State Penitentiary, how can I help you?" asked the woman from behind the front desk.

"I am here to see a mister Jackson Rippner," said the man from in front of the counter. He was tall and distinguished with long blonde hair.

"One moment please." She turned to the intercom on the desk and said, "Billy, we have a visitor for Jackson Rippner, inmate 108."

"Roger that," said the voice of Billy through the intercom. "Send him in."

The woman at the desk turned back to the man at the counter. "Go through the double doors on the left and it's the third door on your right."

"Thank you." The man followed the directions and when he reached his destination he saw a very sick looking Jackson. "My, my. You don't look to well."

"Boss, you are the last person I had expected to see here. To what do I owe the elated pleasure to?" said Jackson, thick sarcasm dripping off of every word.

"Come now Jackson, you don't work for me anymore. We are on first name basis."

"Okay, James, you haven't answered my question."

Josh leaned back on his chair and folded his arms. "What, friends can't visit one another anymore?"

"I highly doubt that you came here to 'chat' unless it was just to gloat."

Josh laughed and smacked his knee. He leaned forward and said, "You always did know me the best, Jack."

Jackson cringed at the name. "How many times do I have to tell you that I am not Jack anymore; it's Jackson." Every time some one called him Jack, he felt a pain in his throat and knee and remembered the day Lisa said that particular name.

"Whatever." Josh shrugged his shoulders. "But I did come to gloat, you are right on that."

"Well then let's get it over with. I have far better things to do with my time then to listen to you ramble on about some meaningless goal that you have been trying to attain for a very long time, and was never able to 'cross the finish line' like you used to say. Then one day, by miraculous chance or by your own doing, you managed to achieve it and in doing so, getting out of a sticky situation by the skin of your teeth. Like I said before," Jackson looked Josh dead in the eye and leaned in as close as he could, as to intimidate him, and spoke very slowly and softly. "I have better things to do with my time."

"Like what? You're in prison, remember. And the last I remember, although never experiencing it my self, there is not much to do on the inside." Josh took a minute to let Jackson stew in the stench of jealousy that he had been caught and Josh walked away scot-free. "I just came to say that I have the Clarke girl in my sights. A very good friend of yours screwed my master plan up, though."

Now it was Jackson's turn to laugh. "You know full well that it is hard to make friends if you kill them all, which is what my latter profession entailed."

"You know this person very well, and this person thinks about you very often. This person can't get you out of their head. They think about you every second and see you when they close their eyes."

"Enlighten me as to who foiled you yet again with you terribly dim-witted vendetta against the Clarke family."

"Lisa Resiert," he said with a smug smile on his unshaven face.

Jackson thought he was going to throw up.

* * *

Thank you to all of those who read and thank you Brit and BregoBeauty for being my first two reviewers! (throws confetti and cuts Brit and BregoBeauty a piece of cake) Thank you for all of your support, and I hope this next chapter meets all of your expectations! (throws more confetti)

Love,

Celia


	3. Chapter 3

Jackson thought he was going to throw up. He tried to keep his cool, he had always been cool under stressful circumstances, but with Lisa everything was different. He knew his face betrayed his feelings of worry. Anyone that had ever gotten in Josh Brown' s way had been found in a ditch on the side of the road and as much as it pained him to think about it, he had grown quite fond of Lisa. He found himself thinking about her constantly. Every time he closed his eyes, he saw her. He could hear her trembling voice, see her tear stained face, and taste her soft delicate lips. And to know that she is thinking about him to… well, it sort of scared him.

"You hoo? Jackson!" Josh knocked Jackson out of his thoughts by hitting the glass forming a barrier between the two. "I would love to stay, but I have another few lives to ruin!"

"Wait!" Jackson yelled.

"What?"

Jackson had to choose his words very carefully. "Don't hurt Lisa." He didn't want Josh to know that he had feelings for Lisa, but he didn't want him to hurt her.

"Why? You don't love her do you? I mean for god sakes, she was a pawn in the plan that you failed."

Jackson had to think of an excuse quickly so that he wouldn't have to admit his feelings. Then, possibly one of the best ideas he had had since he had been locked up in the hell hole that was prison came to mind, even if he didn't mean it, "Because I want to get my revenge on her. I want to finish the job I started."

"Go on one," yelled the judge. "Three, two," she blew her whistle loudly to signal them to start playing. It was a three on three match and Lisa was on the sidelines watching Natalie play. She was really good. Lisa heard some of the girls on the bench saying, "That's that orphan girl. She is supposed to be the best in the state. I don't blame anyone for giving her the ball, that pink hair is enough to scare anyone off."

Lisa smiled and continued watching the game.

"Can you believe it? They said that they might actually let me on the team!" squealed Natalie when they got to Lisa's house.

"I am very happy for you. But don't you think that the people at the orphanage will be worried about you? Maybe you should go back."

"Nah, they will be fine. Just let me stay one more day and then I promise I will go back."

Lisa sighed and said, "Okay, one more day."

Two months and a hair color change later, Natalie was still at Lisa's house. Lisa had grown fond of the girl. She felt as if she could tell her anything and not be judged. This 16 year old was the only person she could be straight with about her feelings for Jackson. She told Natalie things that she couldn't even tell her father. Like just exactly what had happened in the lavatory of the plane.

"Did someone do this to you?" Jackson asked about Lisa's scar. The look in his eyes was so sincere that she almost wanted to turn away. His eyes told the story of him taking her into his strong arms and never letting go; the story of him whisking her off into the sunset and bringing the man who did this to her to justice. And then finally the story of them living happily ever after. But that was just a story.

"Lisa…" he whispered. He leaned in and gave her a timid kiss. Lisa wanted more. She grabbed his lower back and pushed him as close as humanly possible, deepening the kiss. He went right along and forced his tongue into her mouth. It was a minute or so when Lisa finally realized what she was doing. She pulled out and said,

"We can't do this and you know it. We can never be together so why do we keep torturing ourselves?"

Jackson looked hurt, but he knew what she said was true. "The phones are working. I need you to make that call, Leese." And he went back to being the same old Jackson Rippner.

On the 32nd night that Lisa had been playing hostess to Natalie, something happened.

Lisa was walking down the hallway to Natalie's room to say goodnight when she heard Natalie on the phone. "Thank you. No, I understand. But thanks anyway. Bye"

"Who was that?" Lisa asked Natalie, who now donned a light, bright blue hair color.

Natalie took in a shuddering breath and said, "That was the Miami Women's Soccer Association. They said that I didn't make the team. They said that there is nothing wrong with the way I play, but I am just too young." She had silent tears running down her face.

"I am so sorry." Lisa sat down on Natalie's bed and Natalie put her head on Lisa's chest. They hugged and tears stained Lisa's nightgown.

"But that is not why I am crying." Natalie paused to try to steady her voice. "The phone call before that was the orphanage. They said that I have to go back! I don't want to! You are the only person who has ever really cared about me and I feel safer here then I have anywhere else!" She sobbed some more then said, "Please don't make me go back! I want to stay with you!"

"Shh, it's okay. I won't make you do anything you don't want to." Natalie cried for a while, then Lisa said, "Well, how would you feel if I adopted you?"

Natalie sniffed and said, "You would adopt me? You're not kidding?"

"No."

"I would love to have you as a mother! When can you do it!"

"As soon as tomorrow morning."

"Thank you so much Lisa, for everything." By this time both of them were crying. But not tears of sadness, tears of joy.

Jackson lay in his cell, wondering what Lisa was doing now. It had been two months after Josh had visited him and there was no missing or dead person report on the news so Jackson figured that Natalie and Lisa were safe.

"Rippner. You have a visitor," said the guard.

When Jackson sat down at the booth for visitors he was very surprised to see Josh again. "You keep coming here with no reason; can't you just leave me in peace?"

"I thought that you would enjoy some company. I don't think that you get along to well with any of the inmates, do you?" Jackson rolled his eyes. It was true and Josh knew it. Josh laughed and leaned in. "I did come here with a purpose, though." Jackson just gave him stony silence. "You remember Lisa Resiert, right?"

Jackson's insides did a summersault but his face remained the same. "Well, Jack, just thought I would let you know that she is adopting the Clarke girl." Jackson's insides did another summersault, this one terribly close to his mouth. Josh must have seen the momentary flicker of worry in Jackson's face because he said, "Don't' worry, I won't hurt her. I will leave Lisa untouched for you. But I am going to get that Natalie girl, make no mistake."

The adoption only took another month. The papers were signed and on a Friday morning, Natalie came home. Lisa helped her get resituated in her room and while they ate dinner they talked.

"So, you have all this week off of school?" asked Lisa.

"Yep, I think they are renovating the halls. I heard a rumor that there was asbestos in the walls. I have been going to that school since first grade, since it is an elementary, middle, and high school in that one building," said Natalie as she ate the dish she had ordered from take out.

"So that is what is wrong with you!" Lisa joked. "You have been sucking in asbestos for most of your life!"

"Your evil!" But they were both laughing. Nothing could bring down either of their high spirits. Natalie finally had a home and Lisa finally found a real friend. But neither of them expected what was coming next.

Lisa went to say goodnight to Natalie and Natalie said, "I can't express just how good it feels to know that I am wanted and loved. I also can't say thank you. Those words won't be able to show you how grateful I am for this."

"You will never have to say thank you for this. But I thank you for helping me out of the hole of emotions I had dug for myself. You helped me through all of my emotions better then any psychiatrist. So thank you, Natalie, for helping me."

"Your welcome. And thank you, Lisa, for giving me a home." They were both teary eyed. They hugged and Natalie said, "Jesus! I feel like we are in a sappy chick flick!"

Lisa laughed and said, "Me to!" They broke out of their embrace and Lisa went to the door frame. "Goodnight Natalie."

"Good night Lisa." And Natalie turned her bedside lamp off.

Lisa walked down the hall and turned at her bedroom door. She laid down on her bed and turned the light off. As she drifted into the most peaceful sleep she had been in since the plane she knew that this was the best relationship that she had been in since Jackson and this one will last forever.

"CRASH!" Lisa woke up with a start. She glanced at her clock and it said 3:00 AM. _That can't possibly be Natalie making breakfast. She doesn't even wake up until 10. _Then Lisa heard something thatshe hoped she would never have to hear. "LISA! HELP ME!" Lisa ran at breakneck speed to the living room. There was a man dressed in black from head to foot and he had Natalie limp in his arms with a syringe at his feet.

The man put his finger to his mouth, or what Lisa suspected to be his mouth for his black collar was flipped up so high that all she could see was his eyes, and said, "Shh." Then he climbed out of the window.

Lisa rushed to catch up with him, but when he saw that she was following him, he threw a rock at the window. It broke and shards of glass went everywhere. Lisa was moving to fast to slow down so she was showered with the broken glass, cut forming everywhere. Lisa ran right through the glass, not noticing the pieces in her feet and cuts everywhere. She jumped out of the window and landed in her front lawn. She fell and proceeded to tumble half way across her concrete walkway, but she got right back up and screamed "LET HER GO!" She jumped on the back of the man and tried to gouge his eyes out, but all that succeeded in was the both of them falling over into the street. Lisa scrambled back up and tried to grab Natalie out of the back seat of the man's car but before she could get anywhere near the car the man grabbed her ankle and pulled her down. He stood up and started to walk to the car. Lisa stood up and stood in front of him and kneed him in the crotch. He doubled over and lifted his head up. They were close, but all Lisa could see was two green eyes full of hatred. He let out a growl and hit Lisa in the side of the head with the gun in his hand. The ground rushed up to meet her and the man stood over her. "You are lucky that Rippner wants his revenge. If I had my way you would be dead." One last swift kick in Lisa's ribs and she was dead to the world.

Okay, I know that Monday isn't the most opportune day to post up a story, but better late then never. Lo siento mis amigos! (Which means 'I am sorry my friends' in Spanish.)

Andraya- Thanks! Have some e-Snapple Tea and Triscuits! (I am absolutely in love with the lemon flavor tea and the garlic and rosemary Triscuits!) (which is, coincidentally what I am eating now)

Blodeuedd- Thank you SO much! The first meet is on the fourth of November and I have nothing prepared! The Poe poems are perfect! They were exactly what I was looking for! Have some e-Snapple and Triscuits!

Mini Nicka- He won't be in jail for long,. Oops! I have said to much already! Well, think of it as something to look forward to! e- Snapple Tea and Triscuits, help yourself!

Thank you all SO FREAKING MUCH! I would be nothing without you!

Love,

Celia


	4. Chapter 4

Lisa awoke to the sound of beeping. She didn't open her eyes, afraid of who she would see when she did. She didn't know where she was, but she knew that she wasn't home. A few seconds later, she was enveloped in a wave of possibly the worst pain she had ever been in. Every inch of her skin stung like it was on fire and every muscle in her body was sore. The bottom of her feet sent a shooting pain all the way up her leg. Her head throbbed and with every throb, a certain part of the back of her head sent excruciating pain into her brain. She lifted her hand, despite the protest her skin was yelling, and touched the back of her head. It was bandaged and even the slightest touch made the throbbing worse. She opened her eyes and saw that there was dried blood under her finger nails and her hands had an odd brownish color to them. Then it hit her. She was in a hospital because of last night. She remembered last night and the grief over took her pain. _Natalie. I am so sorry. _She thought. She laid her head gingerly back on the pillow and closed her eyes. Even though her eyes were closed, it didn't stop the tears from falling. "Ms. Resiert?" said someone.

Lisa opened her eyes and saw a motherly looking nurse at the door with a police officer next to her. "Ms. Resiert, I am going to need you to answer a few questions for me," said the officer. Lisa nodded and the officer pulled up a chair and sat next to Lisa's bed. "What happened last night?"

Lisa sighed and said, "I was woken up by a sound and Natalie screaming for help. I ran down stairs and saw an intruder by an open window with Natalie in his arms."

"Did she struggle at all or did she let him take her?"

Lisa got offended. "Of course she struggled! Do you think that she wanted to be kidnapped!"

"Just protocol questions Miss."

"But when I got down there he had already injected her with something and she was limp. He jumped out of the window and when he saw me following him he threw a rock at the window and I was going to fast to stop."

"That is where you got your cuts from?"

"Yes. I tried to stop him and get Natalie, but he knocked me out before I had a chance to get to her."

"Where did the blood on your hands come from?"

"I tried to gouge his eyes out, so that might be it."

"What is your relation to Natalie?"

"I am her adoptive mother."

"Did you see the man who took her?"

"No, the only thing I saw was his green eyes. He looked Caucasian, but he had clothes covering most of his face and body."

"Are you sure it was a 'he'?"

"Well, he was built like it. He had broad shoulders and looked about six feet and two inches tall. That is all I can remember." Lisa remembered it all very vividly. Even just as she was about to pass out, what he had said right before he drove off had stuck in her mind like a splinter that wouldn't come out, "You are lucky that Rippner wants his revenge. If I had my way you would be dead."

"Can you describe Natalie for me?"

"She is five foot nine, built like a soccer player, bright blue hair and brown eyes, Caucasian female. She had on a black shirt that said 'The Killers' and green pajama shorts that said, 'Green Day' across the back."

"Did you get a look at the car they were driving?"

"A black SUV."

"Okay." The officer wrote something on the clipboard he had been writing on while she had been interrogated. He stood up and patted Lisa on the shoulder, "I am terribly sorry for your loss and the entire police force will try our hardest to bring Natalie back."

Lisa gave him a weak smile and said, her throat constricting, "Thank you."

He left and the nurse by the door walked in and gave Lisa a 'hang in there, sweetie'. "It's time for your last dosage of pain medication and you are free to go."

The nurse walked out of the room and brought back to Lisa her clothes from last night and a small paper cup with three Advil and one tiny white pill. "What is this white pill?" Lisa asked the nurse.

"It's Valium. It is a really low dosage, 1 milligram. The doctor prescribes it to almost anyone who had suffered the loss of a child. I suggest that you don't try to drive for the next few hours, though. It can make you really dizzy and can cause major fatigue. But then again, it is different for everyone. Here is your prescription for 30 tablets and three refills."

"Thank you," Lisa said as the nurse walked out of the room. Lisa's clothes from last night was her night gown, so she figured that she would just go straight home and change before she did anything.

The hospital called a cab for her and the cab drove her to her house. There were police men and CSI workers around her house along with her father and several reporters. As soon as Lisa stepped out of the car, she was bombarded with cameras and microphones while her ears were assaulted with the 'clicks' of cameras going off and people shouting stupid questions at her like, "What happened to Natalie?" Lisa squinted and tried to get around the reporters. She didn't want to be on national TV in her night gown. "What did the kidnapper look like?" one of the reporters yelled. Lisa ignored all of the questions and accusations. "Do you think the court will revoke your adoption rights?" That one caught Lisa's attention. Before she had a chance to say anything, three police officers, her father, and her lawyer pushed through the crowd of reporters and escorted Lisa into her house.

Once safely inside the sanctity of her quite house, she hugged her father and started to cry on his shoulder. "She is gone, dad! I am never going to see her again!" Her father helped her to her bed. Within a minute, she was asleep. But it was not a peaceful sleep. She had terrible dreams of Natalie mutilated and in a ditch somewhere and her ghost coming back to her saying, "You let him take me! You don't love me!" The ghost got closer and pushed Lisa off of a cliff. Just as she was about to hit the ground, Lisa woke up in a cold sweat, warm tears on her cheeks and obscuring her vision.

The next few days went on like this. Lisa was in a constant grief ridden state, crying every time she would come across one of Natalie's things. Lisa's father's house was only down a few streets, but he was with her most of the time. And what the kidnapper had said kept turning in her mind like a record that wouldn't stop, "You are lucky that Rippner wants his revenge. If I had my way you would be dead."

Then one night, Lisa had another dream. But this one was different from them all. It was so lifelike that is was almost as if she was doing it in real life.

She was lying on a strange bed, one she had never seen before and she was in a room she had never been in. Jackson was lying on top of her and they were kissing. She could feel every inch of his skin against hers and they were getting into it. Then all of the sudden, Jackson stopped. He looked Lisa dead in the eyes and said, "Lisa, you have connections with a contract murderer, why don't you use them more often?"

Lisa's eyes opened suddenly and she knew what she had to do.

"LISA!" screamed the reporters when she got out of the car. She was at the Miami State Penitentiary. "Why are you here? Where is Natalie?"

"Lisa will not be disclosing any statements at this point and time," said her lawyer. Lately he had taken to following her everywhere because the reporters had gotten brutal with the questions and accusations. Lisa had on a hat and large sunglasses. She hadn't bothered to do her makeup and the endless nights of no sleep and tears had done a number on her face and eyes.

Once inside the closed doors, Lisa asked the front desk if she could speak with inmate 108. She was led to a room with a glass wall dividing the room. She turned to her lawyer and said, "I don't want anyone in there with me and I don't want to be recorded or filmed, do you understand me? I don't want anyone to ever know what went on in this room except for me and the inmate." As her lawyer left she sat down in the chair provided and waited. She closed her eyes and leaned back in the uncomfortable metal chair. This was the only moment of peace she had had in a while.

"You look terrible," said a voice she had lately been hearing in her dreams. Lisa went stiff and opened her eyes. There were the two blue eyes that had haunted her for so long. The blue eyes that belonged to the terrifyingly beautiful face of Jackson Rippner.

"Long time no see Leese. Where have you been? It's been almost a year and you haven't come to say hello to your loverboy." He put a hand over his heart and put on a face of fake sorrow, "I'm hurt."

Lisa's voice had left her. She had come here to see him, to talk to him; but to actually be so close to the face that she had fallen in love, or perhaps lust, with was just so shocking for her unbalanced emotional state right now. Jackson saw her open wound and dug at it.

"I thought after that amazing kiss on the plane, you would come back for more. Or was that brat you adopted getting in the way?" Jackson hated seeing her like this. He would do anything to end her suffering, but he couldn't let her see that.

This remark jumpstarted Lisa's voice. "How dare you talk about Natalie like that!"

"Oh my," Jackson said, faking surprise. "It seems that I have struck a nerve."

Lisa was about to go all off on Jackson but the little voice in the back of her head repeated what the kidnapper had said, "You are lucky that Rippner wants his revenge. If I had my way you would be dead." And besides, she didn't want to make him mad. Then he wouldn't cooperate. "Jackson, I need your help."

Jackson was completely taken aback by what Lisa just said. "Excuse me?"

"I… need your help. I need your help to get Natalie back." She looked down at her lap and said, "As you probably know by now, Natalie was kidnapped a few days ago." For the most part she was looking at her lap so Jackson wouldn't see her crying, but some of it was so she wouldn't have to see his face.

"What do you want me to do about it, Leese? I am in jail, remember?"

Lisa looked him straight in the eye, "Well, I figure if a pen in your throat didn't stop you, then jail would be a piece of cake."

Almost subconsciously, Jackson brought his hand up to his throat. "You want to see the mark you left on me Lisa? Because you know, every time it stings, I think of you." He pulled down the front of the orange jumpsuit to reveal a perfectly round red mark in the middle of his throat. Lisa looked at the wound and tears fell from her face, but not for Jackson, for Natalie. She looked back up at Jackson with red puffy eyes and said,

"Please Jackson. I miss her so much. I just want to know she is safe. I would do anything … anything to bring her back home."

Inside Jackson's heart was breaking right along with Lisa's. But not for Natalie, for Lisa. He hated seeing her like this. His face softened and he said, "I am sorry Lisa, but there is nothing I can do."

She became silent and got up off of the chair. She had her hand on the door and Jackson called out, "Lisa."

She turned around and he said, "I'm sorry."

She just nodded and walked out of the room.

"Come on, Rippner. Time to go back to your cell," said the guard.

"I want to use my weekly phone call," Jackson said.

"Follow me." The guard led him to the phone booth in the back of jail house. "Ten minutes."

Jackson dialed a number he thought he would never have to dial again. "Hello?"

"This is Rippner. I need you to commence operation 666."

"Don't we need the bosses okay?"

"The boss isn't going to be in charge for long if you get the drift. Get the best guys out here; I need you to commence this now."

Somewhere out in the middle of Nevada Natalie woke up and it was dark. It took her a while to realize that she was blindfolded. She had no idea where she was and all she remembered was waking up with a man above her head. She screamed for Lisa and the man picked her up and put his hand over her mouth. She kept screaming for Lisa, but then the man put a syringe in her neck and she blacked out. She was sore and her head felt like it had been bashed in more then once. She was gagged and tied to a chair. She heard someone open and close a door. "Well hello beautiful," said the person who had opened the door. She heard footsteps and someone uncovered the blindfold. The first thing that she saw was two bright green eyes.

As Lisa walked into her bedroom, she thought all hope was lost. She thought she was never going to see Natalie or Jackson again.

Even though it was only five o'clock in the afternoon, Lisa felt a sudden wave of fatigue. She changed into her comfortable cotton Victoria Secrets nightgown and turned down the covers on her bed. She turned on the TV only to find more on the investigation of Natalie's kidnapping. She turned it off and laid her head on the pillow. She fell into a fitful sleep of bad dreams of Natalie and passion filled dreams of Jackson.

At around 3 AM, Lisa had another bad dream, but it was life like, just like the one with her and Jackson. Natalie was gagged and tied to a chair in a room that Lisa had never seen before. The man in black had a knife to Natalie's throat. She had deep cuts all around her and blood splattered everywhere. She was screaming out in pain, yet it was muffled by the gag. "No!" Lisa screamed.

Then the dream changed and they were in a different room. Natalie, Jackson, and the man in black were there. She was a few yards away from Natalie who was being backed into a corner by the man in black who had a gun. Lisa started to run towards her to protect her. The man in black yelled at Natalie, "I WILL finish what I started 16 years ago!" Jackson ran out of nowhere and jumped in front of the gun. The man in black shot and Jackson was the one who took the bullet.

"NO!" Lisa screamed. She fell to her knees and screamed for the loss of Jackson.

Lisa opened her eyes and gasped for the loss of Jackson in the dream and then tried to scream because the real life Jackson was on top of her. He was dressed in the same outfit as he was on the plane but all she noticed was those eyes. He put his hand on her mouth and said, "You said you would do anything to get Natalie back and this is that anything." He put a syringe in her neck and as the world dimmed she saw his eyes and heard him say, "I'm sorry Lisa."

* * *

Hello! Thank you all for being so patient with me! I have a good reason for not posting, though. Those of you who read **_Love of Fear,_** by yours truly, you already know the reason, but for those of you who don't, I had my very first speech and debate meet a little while ago and I was gone for a couple days. But, I won first place in my dramatics! I am so happy! So thank all of you for being so patient with me! Thanks to Silver Anarchist, BregoBeauty, Andraya TheLat (special thanks to you for the Spanish lesson!),Silver Arrow112, and Mini Nicka for reviewing! I would be nothing without you! Extra large e-milky way and a free copy of Shakira's new album!

Love,

Celia


	5. Chapter 5

The man pulled the gag out of Natalie's mouth and she immediately tried to scream. But the man was quick and put his hand over her mouth. "Not that anyone is going to hear you out here, but I don't want you to scream any more then you have to, not to mention I have a terrible hangover."

"W…what do you want with me?" Natalie asked in a trebling voice

"I have a grudge against your family."

"I they died when I was little. I don't remember anything about them! Why do you want me?" Natalie asked, tears running down her face.

"All will be known in due time. Don't worry, I will tell you before I kill you," Natalie gasped and the man smiled. "But I want to get to know a little about you first."

Natalie shrunk back in her chair and screamed for help, but no one heard.

Lisa was shaken awake by a sudden jolt of movement. _Wait, _she thought. _My bed doesn't move… _Her eyes shot open and she sat up fast, which she immediately regretted. The world started to spin and she heard a familiar voice,

"That wasn't the smartest thing to do, Leese. You have one hell of a head injury; you need to take it slow." She felt a hand on her chest push her back down onto the seat she had been in and met the cold blue eyes of Jackson.

Her brain told her that she needed to get up and out from under his touch as fast as possible, but something made her stop. "Where are we?"

"We are currently heading for one of my hide outs so you can get changed and I can get the proper tools."

Lisa looked around and finally noticed that she was in a car. She looked down and saw she was still in her nightgown. "I knew," said Jackson. "That if I had changed you into different set of clothes you would be pissed at me."

Lisa sat up slowly and smiled ever so slightly. Then the terrible words rang through her head like a gun shot to her fragile mental state; "You are lucky that Rippner wants his revenge." She tried her hardest to suppress her sobs, but tears came regardless. For a moment, she had forgotten what he had done to her, and what he had threatened to do to her and her family. For a moment she had forgotten he was a ruthless killer with a bad aim.

"What are you crying for now?" Jackson asked. "I have always hated it when women cry."

"You are a murderer and you just kidnapped me, what do you think I am going to do, laugh?" she spit viscously

Jackson sighed and said, "You said you would do anything to get Natalie back and this is that anything. I had to make it look like I kidnapped you so you could help me find her."

She turned towards the window. She couldn't seem to get the phrase 'Are you going to kill me?' out of her mouth so she asked, "Did you wreck my house?"

"What?"

"You said that you had to make it look like you really kidnapped me, so did you wreck my house?"

"No. That is really unprofessional. I didn't even wreck your bed getting you out. I left everything the way it was."

"What about my father?" she turned her tearstained face towards him, looking him in the eyes.

"Come again?"

She knew that even if Jackson had told her father that he was going to fake kidnap her to get Natalie back, he would still worry, but for lack of the courage to ask if he was going to kill her, she mumbled out, "My father. Does he know that I wasn't really kidnapped?"

"Of course not. If he knew, he would tell the police." For the next half an hour, they sat in silence. Jackson broke it by saying, "I am sorry, you know."

"For which one of the terrible memories you gave me?" Lisa retorted back, wiping the tears off of her mascara streaked face.

"I sorry that Natalie was taken from you. I know how hard that is."

Lisa whipped her body around to face Jackson and said hatefully, "You know nothing of the pain I have gone through in these past few days. You have never lost someone and not known where they are. You have not had these dreams and premonitions and feelings that she is dead in a ditch somewhere or she is in so much pain and there is nothing you can do to save her. So don't talk to me about pain, Jackson. Don't tell me that you know what I am going through. You have never lost someone before."

_I lost you. _He thought, his heart breaking because of Lisa's pain. And for the last fifteen minutes of the trip to the hide out, Jackson and Lisa sat in a sad, thick silence; the only thing breaking the sound was the soft tap of Lisa's tears hitting the floor of the car.

* * *

Sorry for the delay. Terrible writers block and school. But I am sick today and stayed home from school, so I had a chance to bring you the next chapter in this installment. Thanks to all who read and reviewed! Thank you all for sticking with me and not giving up on me!

Love,

Celia


	6. Chapter 6

When they pulled up to the hide out the car stopped and Jackson was the first to get out. He walked around the car and opened Lisa's door and offered his hand. She looked at it with disgust and walked out of the car unassisted.

The hide out was nothing more then a house in what looked like a simple suburban neighbor hood. The lawns were perfectly manicured, the outside of the houses were all nicely painted with calm pastel colors. Even a bike or two was parked in front of the garage doors.

"It may look like your normal neighbor hood," Jackson said, reading the look on Lisa's face. "But these houses were especially put in by my boss to make nothing look suspicious. This is the prepaid housing for me and my coworkers. And remember, all these people in the surrounding houses have incredible aim, so don't try to run."

"Why would I?" Lisa asked sarcastically. "You just kidnapped me and dragged me to god knows where, no big deal right?"

"I told you we are going to help you get Natalie back," Jackson said, growing more impatient with every word out of Lisa's mouth.

"But you are a hit man! How am I supposed to trust you when you kill people for a living?"

"I have always been a man of my word though." They were at the door and Jackson was fumbling with the keys. "Here we go." Jackson opened the door to reveal what seemed a simple suburban home, the only thing wrong with the picture was the AK-47 on the vintage coffee table. A man poked his head out of the kitchen and said,

"Jackson! What are you doing back so soon?" He walked out and Lisa saw he was a tall man with dark black hair, dark brown eyes, and very tan skin. All in all, he was a very handsome and Lisa would have been far more interested if the circumstances were different.

"I had the men break me out of jail and I am helping Lisa get her kid back."

The man looked Lisa up and down and said, "Oh yeah, you're the woman who's kid got kidnapped a week ago, right? You're Lisa and the kid is Natalie?"

"Yes," Lisa said timidly.

"Well, I'm Tom." He stuck his hand out and Lisa took it and instead of him shaking her hand, he kissed it. "You have such soft hands, did you know that?"

"Now Tom," Jackson said, more serious in tone. "You, Lisa, and I are the only one's who are to know we are looking for the kid, understand?"

'Why?" Tom asked.

"Because I have a feeling I know who took the kid and some of the people here are in on it."

"Okay. Confidential it is." Then Tom turned to Lisa and said, "Well, it looks like you are going to need some clothes." He tried to grab Lisa's hand and lead her into the bedroom, but Lisa resisted.

Jackson took a hold of Lisa's other hand and said, "I will help her get ready. You just work on finding all of the proper equipment for the journey."

"Okay, but I did some rearranging and you might not know where all of the extra women's clothes are."

"I am sure I will mange." And Lisa was pulled into one of the back rooms by Jackson. "You are going to want to watch out for him, he will do and say anything to get into a woman's..."

"Alright! I get the drift, you don't have to finish that sentence. Just show me where the clothes are and tell me when we are going to leave."

"Well, like I said I think I might know who it is, but first of all, it is just a hunch and second of all I have no idea where he would be."

"Who do you think it is?"

"I will tell you when I know for sure."

"No god damnit! Tell me NOW!" She was about to scream in frustration when he put his hand over her mouth and looked her in the eye. She was once again, mesmerized by his eyes. He slowly let his hand down and just as she was about to say something. He kissed her passionately. He snaked his arms around her middle and she wrapped her arms around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. Without even pulling out of the kiss, he picked her up and carried her out of the room and into another, but it was all dark. He shut the door with his foot and set her down on a chair, or what she thought was a chair for Jackson hadn't turned any of the lights on.

Sitting there in the dark, waiting for Jackson to come and find her to continue, the man in black's words ran through her head; "You are lucky that Rippner wants his revenge." Lisa let out a small whimper as her blood ran cold. She just realized that him kissing her was a ploy to get her in here so he could rape her and then kill her. And she didn't even have a pen to protect herself.

Jackson flicked the light switch on. The hum of the fluorescent lights and Lisa's quite whimpering filled the room. Lisa looked around to see that the room was a bathroom, hardly big enough to fit three people.

"Lisa the reason I brought you in here was because every single room in this house is bugged with audio and visual except this one."

"So you brought me in here so no one would see you kill me?" Lisa asked quietly.

"What? Where did you get that idea?"

"You did kidnap me after all. Was that kiss a real kiss or was it just a ploy to get me in here so no one would have to see you kill me?" Why Lisa never told him about the man in black, she never could understand.

Part of Jackson wanted to say yes, it was a real kiss, but his conscience took over and wormed his way out of the question. "Lisa I have told you already, we are trying to get Natalie back, I gave you my word!"

"But _I_ told _you_ that I don't trust you!"

Jackson sighed and said, "Look, I will make you a promise with the honor code."

"What's that?"

"It is something my boss made to make sure that everyone was a man of their word." Jackson pulled out a switch blade from his back pocket.

"W-what is that?" Lisa asked in fear.

"What does it look like? The honor code is where we make a cut in our palms," he sliced the middle of his right palm and said, "Give me your hand Lisa." She stepped back from him and clutched her hand. "Lisa this won't work if you don't trust me. Just give me your palm and I will make it a smaller cut, I promise." Against her better judgment, Lisa gave Jackson her hand. He took the knife and made a cut on her hand. "Now grasp my hand," Lisa was still a little bit unsure about this, so Jackson took her hand and gave the first squeeze and then Lisa caught on and squeezed back. "I, Jackson Rippner promise to Lisa Resiert that I will do everything within my power to help her get her daughter, Natalie Resiert, back and into her arms. I also promise to Lisa that no matter what the circumstances are, she will not be harmed by me in any way and I will do everything within my power to make sure that she doesn't get hurt, knowing full well if I break any of my promises to her she has every right to hunt me down and do what ever she wants to me; be it death or torture, if I break my promises she has the right. Now I am bounded by blood to these promises and I have every intention to keep them."

Jackson took his hand away to get Band-Aids and to wash the residual blood off his hands, Lisa did the same. "Now, the real reason I brought you in here was every room in this house is bugged with audio and visual cameras, so this is the only place where I can tell you who I think the kidnapper is."

"Who is it?"

"I am almost positive…" Jackson stopped mid-sentence and put his ear to the door.

"Jackson? Who…" and he rushed over to her and kissed her again, but this time he whispered in her ear,

"Lisa, Tom is at the door. I think he is in on the kidnapping so we can't let him know we have been talking about it. Just kiss me until he goes away so he doesn't get suspicious."

"Okay." And they started up again. Just as she started to kiss him again, the door was wrenched wide open.

"Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" Tom asked.

Without even turning his head Jackson said, "Yes and we would appreciate it if you left us alone."

"Okay, but I just came to tell you that you are going to be stuck here for a couple of days. None of the equipment is working and all of our supplies are gone."

* * *

Hello my cheeky wee monkeys! (If any of you watch the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, you know where that came from.) I hope you enjoyed this chapter! This was actually supposed to be part of chapter five, but all together it was six pages; so I broke it down into two chapters so you don't have to slug all the way through one _really _long chapter. My best regards to all and for those of you who read and review a special edition Red Eye DVD!

Love,

Ceila


	7. Chapter 7

Oh, I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?" Tom asked.

Without even turning his head Jackson said, "Yes and we would appreciate it if you left us alone."

"Okay, but I just came to tell you that you are going to be stuck here for a couple of days. None of the equipment is working and all of our supplies are gone."

"Excuse me?" Lisa asked, trying to keep her cool.

"The boss used most of everything for his last endeavor then locked the rest up."

"Which one?" Jackson asked, Lisa still in his arms.

"He didn't really tell anyone about it. He just packed up and left."

"So we can't go anywhere?" Lisa asked, her patience slowly running out.

"No. Well, you could, but I don't think that it would be a great idea to go out of this neighborhood with a run away convict without any protection… guns, I mean. And even if you did know who the kidnapper was, you wouldn't be able to find them. Our tracking devices aren't working. The boss shut down all of the equipment. It works everywhere else, but I have called all of our hideouts in Miami and nothing works."

"Shit," Jackson cursed.

"So you mean we are stuck here until, either the power comes back or your boss turns it back on?" Lisa asked.

"Yes," Jackson and Tom said in unison.

"So what do we do?"

"I will try to override the system shutdown and get the tracking device working again," Jackson sighed. "As for the weapons, I think I know how to get some. But for now, all we can do is wait."

Lisa sighed and wanted to scream again. Natalie was still out there, but there was nothing she could do.

* * *

Natalie sat, still roped into the chair, in what looked like a living room. She had cried for a long while, but when she figured that sobbing and screaming weren't going to get her anywhere, she just let the tears silently roll down her cheeks. The man in black had introduced himself earlier as Josh Brown. He was currently sitting at the table, stuffing his face with a foot long sandwich. He saw Natalie watching him and with a mouth full of food said, "Ooo wan a ite?" and gesticulated the sandwich towards her.

"I'm sorry, but I think your words got in the way of your food," Natalie said disdainfully.

Josh rolled his eyes and swallowed and said again, "Do you want a bite?"

Natalie thought about it and said, "Well, I guess it couldn't hurt. I am a bit hungry. But can you untie me so you don't have to feed me?"

Josh laughed and said, "I don't trust you that much. Just open your mouth."

_Damn it! _Natalie thought as she opened her mouth and had the sandwich shoved into it. She ate it gratefully and looked back up at him. "Why do you have a grudge against my family?"

"I told you already; I'll tell you in time, but I want to know more about you first." He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her, but to close for comfort. "What do you like to do?"

"Why are you stalling the time until you kill me?" Natalie asked Josh. She was trembling again. She couldn't bear to look in his eyes, so she turned her head away.

"If you want me to kill you, I'll grab the gun under my bed and do it now. But don't you want to live just a little longer?" He grabbed her chin forcefully and turned her head to look at him. "Look at me," he whispered. Yet, her eyes still wouldn't lock with his. He put his free hand on her leg and started to stroke it. Her eyes immediately locked with his and she didn't like the look on his face as he ran his hand up and down her leg. "I have my reasons for keeping you alive; until then, why not try to relax and have a little fun." His lips curled into a sinister smile with a little bit of lust tucked away at the edges.

* * *

Hello my dearies. I am so very sorry that I have been bad about posting. School has been kicking my ass for the last couple of months and that tied in with family obligations I haven't been able to find time to write my stories. But I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that I am out of school for the summer! YEAH! No more stupid homework or tests to study for that burn up my creativeness! The bad news is that I'm probably going to have to get a job this summer. But (and I know I have promised this in the past and not followed through, but I mean it this time) I will try my hardest to post the next chapter as soon as possible. Thanks for sticking with me all this time and not bailing when things got hard. I love you all lots!

Love,

Celia


	8. Chapter 8

Lisa finally got changed into regular clothes and sat in the living room. She just sat there, peacefully in her own little world. Tom was in the connecting dinning room at the table in front of a computer. He looked up at Lisa and said, "So, how have you been since Natalie was taken?"

Lisa gave him the look that said, 'what do you think, idiot?' but it was pointless for he was looking back at the computer. She sighed and said, "Terrible."

"I would imagine so, losing a child is one of the hardest things anyone could go through," he said.

"Well, I didn't ever really think of her as my child. More like a really good friend."

"But even so, that's still incredibly hard to go through." He looked up at her. "I lost a good friend once. I'd known him since we were little. We'd gone through most of our school careers together."

Lisa looked at him. "What happened to him?" she asked.

Tom sighed and looked back at the computer. "He was killed in a drive by. You see, I lived in a bad part of Chicago and drive by's were nothing new. But we had always been so careful; running for cover when gunshots were heard, never walking without a big group of people after dark, and before we were old enough to own a gun license we carried tazers around with us, you know, just normal precautions for living in a big city.

"One night, he and I had to go across the street to the store to get some paper for his term paper that was due the next morning. We were across the street from his house when he died." Tom paused and took a deep breath. "I miss him every day. He was only 21 when he died. He died at the hands of senseless violence."

"I'm so very sorry," Lisa said quietly.

"It's alright. That was a long time ago. But that is why I am helping you get Natalie back. I don't want you to suffer the same pain as I did when I lost Matt."

In her book, Tom had just moved up from 'sleaze ball' to 'messed up for a reason that's understandable'. Lisa could swear that she saw a tear on his cheek.

Tom cleared his throat and said, "Let's get off this depressing subject. How did you and Jackson meet?"

Lisa was about to answer, completely forgetting that she should be uncomfortable answering that question, when Jackson walked in the room. "Lisa can you come in the back for a second?" and without waiting for an answer, he grabbed her hand and pulled her off the couch and into the back bedroom.

"What was that for! I was talking to Tom!" She wrenched her hand out of his grasp. "And for information he is a very nice man! He suffered a terrible loss similar to mine!"

Jackson gave a look of disgust in the general direction of the dinning room. "Are you telling me you actually believed that story?"

"Of course! Why would someone lie about something like that?"

"To make you so sad that when he comes into your bedroom tonight saying how 'sad he is right now' and 'how he doesn't want to be alone tonight'. And you will feel so bad that you won't say no to anything asks for."

By the time Jackson had finished his sentence, Lisa's jaw had dropped. "How dare you say something like that! He lost his best friend! No human being would use the excuse 'my best friend died' to get into someone's pants!"

"Then you have lived a very sheltered life. Every time he or I bring a girl back to the hideout he spills his heart out and tells her the sad sap story of his very best friend dieing 'at the hands of senseless violence' and she always ends up in bed with him!"

"Are you telling me that Matt didn't die?"

"No, I know Matt died. But not the way Tom told you." He paused and sighed. "I've know Tom for a while. He isn't the saint he would like you to believe. He and Matt were in this business together in the beginning. But one day, Matt got a little higher up on the status board then Tom and he didn't like that very much. So Tom invited Matt for 'celebratory drink' that night."

Jackson stopped, wondering whether he should finish. But before to long, Lisa said impatiently, "And?"

"Tom put arsenic in Matt's beer."

Lisa was speechless. She could feel her mouth open and close a few times, but nothing was coming out. "How dare you say something like that!" she was enraged. "That is even more preposterous then your accusation before!"

"It's true."

"Do you have any proof!"

Now it was Jackson's turn to look a bit flustered. "You have my word, isn't that good enough?"

"Oh yeah, the word of an assassin is the most trustworthy, right?"

"We've been over this already! I thought you trusted me now!"

"Well, maybe I am having a little trouble getting over the fact that you not only tried to kill my father, but, on several occasions, you tried to kill me!"

"Jesus Christ! How am I going to get it through your head that I am not trying to hurt you! What do I have to do to make you believe me, jump in front of a bus! Or maybe I'll slit my wrists! Then will you know that I am _not_ going to do anything whatsoever to cause you even the tiniest pin prick of pain!"

"How can I trust you?" Lisa screamed.

"You are just going to have to take my word for it!" Jackson screamed back.

"But how can I trust you?"

Jackson threw his hands in the air and said, "I'm getting _nowhere_ with you!" he grabbed Lisa's arms and shook them slightly, "Lisa," he spoke with deliberate slowness, "I… am… not… going… to… hurt… you… I am sorry if you don't believe me, but that's the truth." And he stormed off.

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See I told you that I would post soon! But the next one may be a bit longer of a wait. Because you see, the original chapter seven was four pages long, so I just broke them into two chapters and added a bit more to this one when I saw that it was just a little to short. So, the next chapter is still in progress. But I may not get that job, so I guess there is a silver lining to every cloud, right? Stay tuned!

Love,

Celia


	9. Chapter 9

Josh was getting worse by the hour. He never raised his voice to Natalie, he always kept a soft tone, but that was almost worse then yelling. He made her talk to him casually, as if they were friends just meeting getting to know each other instead of a psychopath and his victim. Every so often he would come up to Natalie with a look in his eye that rivaled Jack the Ripper. He would touch her face or her leg and whisper things like, "You're beautiful," or "I can hardly wait until you come around."

"I have to pee," Natalie said, still tied to the chair.

Josh contemplated the thought for a second, and then hopped off of the sofa he had been watching her from and walked into the kitchen. He came back with a pot and a knife. He set the pot in front of her and cut the ropes holding her hands to the chair, but quickly tied her hands together. "You can stand up and aim," he said as he stood next to her. She looked at him. "Sorry, that's the best I can do."

"It's kind of hard to aim when you have nothing to aim with," she said. Hejust stood there. "You can stand outside the door while I use the bathroom, but if you don't let me go now you'll have piss all over your floor."

He sighed and cut the ropes. He grabbed her hands and held them together behind her back as he pushed her towards the bathroom.

He pushed her in so forcefully that she hit the wall with a thud. He looked her up and down and said, "You're filthy." Natalie wasn't sure what he meant until she looked in the mirror. Her blue hair was greasy and her face streaked with mascara and tears. Her eyes were red from crying and bloodshot from lack of sleep.

"Did you just point that out to be an ass or do you want me to take a shower?" she asked.

"Take a shower and I'll have clothes ready for you when you get out." He shut the door and locked it from the outside.

Natalie's mind started to work in overdrive with a million thoughts flying in every direction. _Okay, Natalie, calm down. There's a window above the shower and it's just big enough for you to slip through. _Once her plan was fully formed, she turned the shower full blast and opened the window.

She prayed that the shower had made enough noise to cover her escape. Once out of the bathroom she started to run. Her plan was just to keep running until she came to a rest stop or some sort of civilization. It wasn't the most well thought out or efficient plan, but she had to put as much distance between her and Josh as possible.

Her mind betrayed her as the thought '_What will he do to me if he finds me?' _slipped into her consciousness. She was filled with dread, but kept on running. She had to try to get away. She had to.

Lisa wouldn't speak to Jackson the rest of the day. She would see him coming into a room, and she would go out the back, or wait until he sat down and left the room. She went to bed in a huffy pissiness that rivaled a three year old. She wasn't even sure that why she was mad at him. Of course, he told a lie about Tom and they had gotten into an argument about the looming fact that Jackson was going to kill her. But in the day she spent with him, they had gotten into that fight at least five times and had gotten over it quickly. She was half hoping that he would crawl into her bed that night and make it up to her.

But it was a pipe dream, and she knew it. She got dressed in the nightgown she had came in and climbed into bed. She didn't have too much trouble falling asleep, but was awoken abruptly by a whisper in her ear, "Lisa," someone called.

She rolled over thinking, _I knew he would come. _But was surprised when she saw Tom in the bed next to her instead of Jackson. "Tom," she asked. "What are you doing?"

He looked at her with sad puppy dog eyes. "I'm really sad."

She put on a motherly tone and asked, "Why? What's the matter?"

He sighed and hung his head. "Remembering how Matt died brought up a lot of painful memories. I don't want to be alone tonight."

Lisa's 'Oh fuck Jackson was right' sensors were on the highest level of sensitivity. _Well, maybe he doesn't want sex. Maybe he really is morning the loss of his friend. _she thought. "Well, you can sleep in here if you want to," she offered, although her conscience was telling her to tell him to get the fuck out.

His eyes lightened and he said, "Thank you, Lisa. Thank you so much." He leaned in to kiss her but she warded it off with her hand and said,

"Just go to sleep Tom," and she rolled on her side, her back to him.

She felt a rough hand on her shoulder push her on her back and before she could react, Tom kissed her roughly. She fought to get out from under him but he crawled on top of her. She kicked and fought and tried to scream, but he had his hand over her mouth so hard she could barely breathe. "You want to do this the hard way, huh?" he whispered furiously.

She bit his hand and with the precious moment she had to scream, she cried, "JACKSON HELP!"

Tom backhanded her and she tasted blood. "Bitch!" He pinned her knees down with his feet as he straddled her pelvis. He had a hand on her throat and a knife to her eye. Stills of the day in parking lot appeared before her like a badly done flash back in a crappy soap opera. The only thing running through her mind was _No no, no, NO not again, not again! _"You scream one more time and not only will I rape you, I'll shred your pretty little body to pieces!" he said in a low, murderous tone. He let go of her throat and she screamed. "You little fucker!" he screeched. He slashed her wrists horizontally like a cutter would.

Lisa jumped when she heard a gun shot and a scream from Tom's mouth. He bent over, clutching his shoulder to reveal Jackson in the doorframe, gun in firing position. He calmly walked over to Tom and pistol whipped him in the back of his head. Lisa looked at Jackson with wide, terrified eyes. She was so mindset on making sure there wasn't a replay of the parking lot incident, she didn't realize that tears were running out of her eyes. Jackson pushed Tom off of her and took her shoulders. "Lisa," he said as he looked her in the eye. "I know you're freaked out right now,"

"That's a little bit of an understatement!" she said in a shrill, trebling voice.

"I know, I'm sorry. But Tom was a popular guy and that gun shot will have woken this entire neighborhood," he was being more serious then she had ever seen him. "When they find out what I did, they'll come after me. So I need you to be strong for right now, just until I can get us to a safer place, okay?" She looked deep into his eyes and he looked genuinely frightened. She nodded and he pulled her out of the bed.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the house to the bedroom on the other side. He kicked a rug away and opened a hatch the rug had been covering. "Grab as many guns as you can, Lisa." She obeyed and started to pile the guns into her arms as Jackson ran out of the room. He came back with a gym bag and said, "Dump them in here," she did as she was told. They got as many as half the guns and all of the spare bullets in the bag. Jackson didn't even take the time to zip it up. He slung it over his shoulder and grabbed her hand . He pulled her though the house again and stopped only to grab the car keys on the kitchen table before they were out the door.

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So, all three of the characters are on the run! This will be interesting, me thinks! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Love,

Celia


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